Gemba Academy

Hesitate and Die

By Ron Pereira - March 31st, 2008

One of my favorite movies is U-571 starring Matthew McConaughey. In the movie, a German submarine is boarded by disguised American submariners seeking to capture its Enigma cipher machine. Now in Charge Once the seasoned skipper di

Kaizen and the Way of the Ninja

By Jon Miller - March 31st, 2008

Taiichi Ohno was fond of saying “use the way of the ninja, not of mathematical calculations”. He had fun with language even as he left the people he scolded puzzled by his words. Perhaps in today’s language he might s

Dealing with Doubting Thomas

By Ron Pereira - March 30th, 2008

Today, Roman Catholics around the world read about Doubting Thomas. No matter what your personal belief system is, I think there is much to learn from this story, especially for those of us attempting to drive change in our organizati

One Piece Flow Envelope Stuffing Experiment

10 Benefits of One Piece Flow

By Ron Pereira - March 27th, 2008

There are at least ten reasons one piece flow won’t work. But, I prefer to look at things positively. You know, the glass is half full. With this said, here are 10 benefits of implementing one piece flow. Benefit 1: Improves safety R

What is Progress?

By Ron Pereira - March 26th, 2008

I was reading some quotes of G.K. Chesterton tonight and came across this one. “Progress should mean that we are always changing the world to fit the vision, instead we are always changing the vision.” – Orthodoxy, 19

A Response to the Video Skeptics

By Ron Pereira - March 24th, 2008

It’s safe to say the kinds words, comments, and emails for my one piece flow video have far exceeded my expectations. While most of the comments and feedback have been extremely positive there have been a few skeptics in the crow

A Few More Kaizen Ideas Involving Tennis Balls

By Jon Miller - March 23rd, 2008

The article 50 Great Things you Never Knew you Could do with Tennis Balls on the The Life Hackery website complies a list of dozens of creative things you can do with tennis balls. I carry a tennis ball in my computer bag as a stress r

LSS Academy Series Review – Six Sigma Edition

By Ron Pereira - March 23rd, 2008

First of all, Happy Easter! My family and I were in Oklahoma the last few days. As is very typical with me during road trips, I began to think about this blog. I am not sure if this is entirely healthy (me always thinking about t

Spring Fever – Fact or Fiction?

By Ron Pereira - March 20th, 2008

“It’s spring fever…. You don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!” -Mark Twain Texas Sun Today marks the beginning of spring. Here in Texas, the sun is shi

101 Kaizen Templates: Workplace 5S Audit Sheet

By Jon Miller - March 19th, 2008

Why would the world need another Workplace 5S Audit Sheet? Well, kaizen never ends, that’s why. Although it does rest sometimes. On this 5S audit sheet, there are 10 questions, two in each of the five categories of 5S. You need

Respect for People: Japanese Style

By Ron Pereira - March 18th, 2008

During my recent travels through Japan I was paying close attention to the words and actions of the Japanese leaders we met. One of my trip goals was to gain a better understanding of how the Japanese practiced the concept of “respec

101 Kaizen Templates: PWINT Kaizen Worksheet

By Jon Miller - March 18th, 2008

The idea of PWINT kaizen is to look for kaizen ideas that are within a narrowly defined process band, with a particular perspective of observation. The letters PWINT stand for Processing, Waiting, Inspection and Transportation. It̵

How you can help a child in need

By Ron Pereira - March 17th, 2008

My friend, and fellow blogger, Mark Graban of the Lean Blog is asking us to help a child in need. Specifically, he has a launched a virtual toy drive for children staying in a hospital. I don’t ask much of my blog readers ̵

Improving Healthcare Delivery by Studying Toyota

By Jon Miller - March 17th, 2008

The Seattle Post Intelligencer has a good article giving an update on the lean journey at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, titled To build a better hospital, Virginia Mason takes lessons from Toyota plants When you think of a

The Week in Lean Blogging: Wk. 11, 2008

By Jon Miller - March 16th, 2008

It seems like this was “back to basics week” in many ways, from my reading of various blogs. First there was Mike Wroblewski’s excellent post based on his experience from a recent kaizen event, about how a good layout

Toyota: 97% Efficient

By Ron Pereira - March 16th, 2008

Sitting on an airplane for 12 hours and dealing with a 14 hour time difference will definitely take it out of a person. But after a day of rest (if playing and chasing my 3 kids can be called rest) I am beginning to feel a little mor

JKE Update: Reflection and 122 Degree Sand!

By Ron Pereira - March 14th, 2008

The final exam for those of us on the Japanese Kaikaku Experience was like none other I have ever taken. We were buried in 122 degree Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius) sand and asked to recite the 10 kaizen commandments wearing nothing b

101 Kaizen Templates: Production Control Board

By Jon Miller - March 13th, 2008

The hourly production control board, otherwise known as the hour by hour chart, is used to monitor the progress or output of a process against plan. The advantage of this kaizen template is in its simplicity, near real time performance

JKE Update: One Million Spark Plugs per Day

By Ron Pereira - March 13th, 2008

Today, on day 4 of my Japanese Kaikaku Experience, we visited the NGK spark plug factory where they produce approximately 1.1 million spark plugs per day. On our first day Brad, our guide, told us to focus on the good. He challenged

Fixed Position Stop System

By Jon Miller - March 12th, 2008

Brandon posted a question in the comment section of an article about hourly production control boards, asking: “I have an automotive assembly line and it contains six different stations. The vehicles are on a automated line that

JKE Update: Information Overload

By Ron Pereira - March 12th, 2008

Hello from Kagoshima, Japan. Last night we stayed in a traditional Japanese style hotel. It was an experience to say the least! As cool as it was, Internet connection was not part of their offering… so I am a little behind

JKE Day 1: Harmony and Toyota

By Ron Pereira - March 10th, 2008

Awesome. That’s how day 1 of my Japanese Kaikaku experience turned out. I am not even sure where to start or what to say. My mind is so full… and I have 4 more days to go! Big Harmony After breakfast we began our day

101 Kaizen Templates: Kaizen Newspaper

By Jon Miller - March 7th, 2008

One of the guidelines to operating an effective suggestion system is to limit the scope of suggestions. A person’s kaizen ideas should focus on the work they themselves do. Sometimes teams of people develop kaizen ideas but the same

I’m Leaving on a Jet Plane!

By Ron Pereira - March 6th, 2008

It seems like only yesterday I first announced I was headed to Japan. Well, time definitely flies. This Saturday I am headed East to visit the best of the best as I join Gemba Research on their Japanese Kaikaku Experience. It̵

Brett Favre – Greatest Ever?

By Ron Pereira - March 5th, 2008

“No data have meaning apart from their context.” – Donald Wheeler Unless you live under a rock (or perhaps outside of the USA) you have likely heard that Brett Favre has decided to retire from the NFL. Like him or not

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